Before the Throne of God Above

In my devotional this week, I have been going through the book of Colossians. This epistle is another four-chapter like Philippians that packs a strong punch of theology right at you. I was surprised as I read thru Colossians that one of my favorite hymns "Before the Throne of God Above" draws upon Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of Colossians. Take a look here of the passages used by this beloved hymn in the last two Stanzas:

When Satan tempts me to despair (Luke 22:31-32) And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see Him there (Acts 7:55-56) Who made an end of all my sin. (Col 2:13-14) Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me. (Rom 3:24-26)

Behold Him there the risen Lamb, (Rev 5:6) My perfect spotless righteousness, (1 Cor 1:30; 1 Peter 1:18-19) The great unchangeable I AM, (Heb 13:8; John 8:58) The King of glory and of grace, One with Himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood, (Acts 20:28) My life is hid with Christ on high, (Col 3:3) With Christ my Savior and my God! (Tit 2:13)

As you can see the author used a lot of scripture imagery when she first wrote this poem which was later turned into a hymn. (Yes, the author, Charitie Lees Smith, was a woman who was born in 1841 in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland. She was the daughter of a minister of the Church of Ireland.) What I love about the imagery of this poem/hymn is that I am reminded that my life is hid with Christ on high. This come directly out of Colossians 3:3-4 which says, "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then, you also will appear with him in glory."

I hope that when you too hear these words you find comfort that Jesus Christ is our advocate. He stands on our behalf and speaks in our defense against the accuser. Whenever you are tempted to despair, look up to Jesus who made in end of all our sin which comes from Colossians 2:13-14. Let us encourage one another to look to Jesus who truly holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) and to practice compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12) this week! Listen to this powerful rendition of "Before the Throne of God Above", it's one of my favorite worship songs of all time.

Worship Leading from Worship Leaders

Continuing my update on the NWLC (National Worship Leader Conference), I want to focus on learning about how to lead worship from some of the most beloved and respected worship leaders in the world today. The theme for this year's conference was to "Do This in Remembrance of Me" which is found in a number of places in Scripture include Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22: 14-19, 1 Cor 11:20-34 (usually when a phrase or word is mentioned multiple times its very important and indeed it is in this case)...Jesus said these words at the Last Supper when the disciples partook of communion with Him. Over 2000 years later, we still "do this in remembrance of Jesus". We are called to be in communion with Jesus and I believe the pinnacle of this communion is worship. The heart of worship is us (the frail, weak, and unfit believers) finding the heart of Jesus (the perfect, good, and mighty servant-king).

Right now, I just want to thank everyone who helped put together this conference in California this year (the first time this has happened in CA in many years from what I understand). So the list of this year's worship leaders included: William McDowell, Lincoln Brewster, Free Chapel, The Neverclaim, Kari Jobe, Elevation Worship, Rick Founds, Shelly Johnson, Evan Wickham, The Royal Royal, Holland Davis, Brenton Brown, Tommy Walker, One Sonic Society, Christine D'Clario, Travis Ryan, and some more who were not even on the schedule of events. NWLC was a great place of worship and fellowship! So with all these well-known and world-touring worship leaders, what did I learn?

I shared two Sundays ago the illustration that Lincoln Brewster shared with us. Sometimes, we really need to surrender to God and one way we show this is our posture before God. In my paraphrased memory, Brewster shared this, "First, if you go to foreign country and someone points a gun to your head, what is your first natural response? Well, most of us know the universal sign of surrender is to raise our hands right. Second, when a child wants to be hugged or carried by his father, what does the child do? The child raises his arms up to show that he or she wants to be carried by their father." Well, isn't our heavenly Father looking for our surrender to Him? God wants us to surrender to His will, We are called to give up everything for the sake of the cross and lay down our rights before Jesus. Then, we can take up the yoke of Jesus which my friends is so much lighter, easier, and better than taking up the yoke of this present world...

In the world's perspective, surrender is a sign of weakness and defeat. Military generals in the US army or any army in the world will always tell you, there is no retreat and there is no surrender. In God's perspective, however, surrender is a sign of humility and worship. God sees our posture of lifting our hands as an act of surrender when we worship Him. So my question today is how can we together change our posture before Jesus Christ? Shall we start by lifting our hands to our Maker?

Spiritually Refreshed, Physically Tired

Is it possible to be spiritually refreshed but physically tired? Yes, it is. I had the opportunity to go down to San Diego for the NWLC (National Worship Leader Conference) this past week. The drive down from the Bay Area took about 8+ hours (16+ hours round trip). But the messages, workshops, and worship for the conference were well worth the drive. The first day, our main session speaker was Leonard Sweet who is a distinguished professor and speaker with a huge heart for Jesus (More about Leo)

I wish I could share his entire message with everyone but here is a few points that were really powerful to me. First off, the NWLC is about teaching worship leaders how to lead others in worship. Leo taught me really just how important worship really is. He shared from Matthew 4:9, "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."... If Satan was willing to give up the whole earth just to have Jesus bow down and worship him... Then, worship is a very powerful act, one that can change the very world.

Another point that really stuck out to me from Leo's message was the importance of creativity. God is a creator God. If you have attended my HS Sunday School class we have hit this topic many times. God reveals His creation to us through general and special revelation. However, often times, we (the Church) lose what it means to be creative. We (the Church) often get stuck in traditions, bylaws, and ordinances. Let me be first to say there is nothing wrong with any of these things but when the church loses its creativity it loses its power to reach the world for the Gospel. The Church needs to be aware of the culture (its local community). Do you know what are the hottest word trending in our culture right no, its "localvore" and "artisan". To be a "localvore" (think omnivore and herbivore), is to eat local products like farmer's market. To be an "artisan", is to be an artist in the community and have a story to share with buyers like Semifreddi's artisan bread.

So why did I bring all of this fascinating topics up in my blog today? Its because I hope that as a Church we can together better reach others for the sake of Jesus Christ. We (the Church) need to understand the power of worship in our lives and our community. We (the Church) need to understand our culture so we can be a fresh, relevant, and creative body of Christ reaching the world for the Gospel of our Savior (the Savior of the World). I admit I am physically tired and worn out but I am also right now so fired up to share the Gospel. I want my life to be testimony of worshiping and glorifying my Father in Heaven. I hope that you too will join me in giving it all to see God lifted up.

My Theology of Pain

As I have begun preparing a message on perseverance in Christ, I have had to think hard about the topic of pain. "Perseverance" according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is: "continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition." So when I consider all that the Bible has to say about perseverance...I eventually have to come across the "difficulty, failure, opposition" which for me I will condense into one word "pain".

We have all heard the phrase "No Pain, No Gain" (and if you haven't well now you have!) Its a common phrase used during trainings, boot camps, and weight lifting. But I want to take this phrase and apply it to our daily walk with God. The more I study about "pain", the more I realize that pain may really be "God's mercy in disguise"

First, without pain we wouldn't know how to protect ourselves. Here is a horrible but true story. When I was in Nigeria, our mission team visited, treated, and tried our best to comfort those with Leprosy (Leprosy is a disease that has been known since biblical times. It causes skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness that gets worse over time.) Most people don't know but the worst thing about Leprosy is the fact that you can't FEEL pain anymore. Your body becomes numb to feeling. So many of the people we visited who as you can imagine lived in the slums had body parts burned, severed, cut, infected, and bitten (yes bitten off from rats and bugs). Because they could no longer feel pain they could no longer defend themselves from injury.

Second, without pain we wouldn't experience what it is to truly have faith. We wouldn't know what it is to hope for something. And I believe we ultimately would not understand the power of love. Pain is what brings all these things into completion for us. When we are really under a trial, the virtues of faith, hope, and love really come ALIVE!

Third, I want to encourage you from the book of Philippians 2:1-11: "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We have hope to endure all trials because we have Jesus. Jesus Christ persevered despite all the pain at the cross, the whippings of the 39 lashes, the thorn of crowns...Jesus overcame and so we can overcome!

Sincere Love = Hating Evil, Clinging to Good.

Reading through Romans is always convicting...to say the least. Maybe its because we are so much like the Roman people. We went through the epistle of Romans for Friday Youth Fellowship last year. It was deep. It was rich. It was GOOD. But I wish I could do it again...I feel as if each time I go through Romans, I learn something new and/or change my old perspective. Romans is a profound exposition of the Gospel and packs a big punch of theology. I'm reading through chapter 12 of Romans today which focuses on offering our lives as living sacrifices to God and overcoming evil with good. Both of these can only be accomplished with what I would call "Sincere Love". Romans 12:9-18 says:

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

And sincere love...is much easier much much easier to say than to do. First off, sincere love must HATE what is evil. I don't even have to look at anyone else but myself to recognized that I don't hate evil as much as I should... Many times, I've caught myself speaking evil, watching evil, putting up with evil, even doing evil. And when I look into our society/culture today...its just as bad if not worse. We purchase more than we should (which is evil), we obsess over fame and money (which is evil), we ignore the homeless and poor (which is evil), and we only care about our own pleasure (which is evil).

So just how do we hate what is evil? Well, I think its important to recognize that this sentence is tied together with the ";"...Which means hating what is evil correlates with clinging to what is good. In order to hate evil, we must KNOW and FOLLOW what is GOOD. So what is good? Or maybe that's the wrong question, who is good? What model can we follow for pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful? Well, that my friends, only comes from God. A few verses earlier in chapter 12, Paul writes "brothers...will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing, and perfect will."

Whether we acknowledge it or not...God wants the best for us. Sometimes, what's best for us is not what we want! Actually, I would be safe in saying "most of the time" we don't know what is best for us! So my friends, I encourage you today not to be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Till next time, I hope we will all practice sincere love!